The Forsaken

Anon

Midnight took me the only restaurant in Ponyville that served meat. We sat down and the waiter came over. “What type of menus would you like?”

Midnight nodded. “Two carnivore menus please.”

The waiter gulped, left, and returned with the menus. I glanced over my menu and frowned.

“Midnight… you don’t have to eat meat just because I am.”

He gave me a smile that melted my heart. “Of course I do, dear. At least this one time. I need these ponies to see just how much I accept you. They will look at you funny if you start going around declaring yourself to be my marefriend if we don’t look committed. I mean… in their eyes… it could just be another one of my pranks.”

I ordered a baked chicken and Midnight got a baked trout. We ordered ale and a side salad. I wanted to jump right into telling him about my day, but I was distracted by his prank comment.

“You wouldn’t joke about having a marefriend… or getting married, would you?”

He gulped… “Well… I kinda pulled that prank today, in fact. I guess it was in poor taste given that I am serious about taking you as a marefriend but… in my defense, I haven’t had a real marefriend in a long time and I kinda forgot.” He smiled a little sheepishly.

I shook my head and smiled at him. My innocent little stallion.

“Tell me about the prank.”

The drinks and side salad were brought to us, and he went into the story about going to Sweet Apple Acres to talk about a missed loan payment and learned about the plow being broken. After some raunchy teasing caused Applejack to faint, he talked Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith into playing along for a massive prank. Applejack had been under the weather anyways, so he put a healing sleep spell on her, so she’d be forced to rest and fully recover. By the time she woke up later in the day, all the elements were in place to both fix the farm and play the joke. So, everyone played their part and by the end of the joke, Applejack fainted again. Happy with the results, he left the farm to go find her at the spa. He looked at me for approval.

I was laughing hard at the ridiculous story when the main course was brought. We both ate our meals and talked about lighter topics. When we returned to the estate, it was after nightfall and a large crowd was waiting for us.

I placed my hand on his withers. “Midnight?” I couldn’t keep the worry from my voice.

He nodded and looked at me. “It’s okay. Just follow me and watch.”

We entered his estate, and the crowd followed us inside without a word spoken. For the first time ever, we went into his throne room. The twelve ponies gathered around, six on each side of the carpet leading to the throne and Midnight took his place upon the throne itself. He raised a hoof to me and gestured that I should stand beside him on the dais. I wordlessly obeyed, not daring to speak. His horn shined with black magic and the ceiling seemed to disappear and resolved itself into the night sky, showing a full moon, complete with the Unicorn shadow.

His words chilled me to the bone. “My friends. I now convene the Midnight Counsel. This is my new marefriend, Lady Anon. In my absence… she speaks with my absolute authority. Please afford her the same respect that you give me.”

My eyes widened as all twelve of them turned to me, bowed so low that their faces touched the floor, and in a raspy voice, they said as one. “My lady… we live to serve.”

* * *

Midnight

Anon cleared her throat and managed to rasp out. “Please rise and be at ease.”

All the ponies did so, and I smiled. “Nice touch, my dear.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything else, content to watch.

I looked at the group. “The information about the slavers were correct. I killed four griffons and freed one captive in transit. Were you able to locate the base?”

One mare stepped forward. “Yes, my Lord. We freed seven other slaves and gathered all the loot. The spoils of battle are now in your basement for review.”

I nodded grimly. “Good work, Moon Watcher. I’ll be sure to pay your usual fee plus a bonus for the tip that allowed me to save Lady Anon.”

Moon Watcher bowed. “No bonus is necessary. We do this work for you because it allows us to continue to serve the mother. We know that you speak for her in her absence.”

Anon watched my features tighten but I schooled those features after a moment of tension and continued.

“Your loyalty is humbling. What other reports would you like to make this evening?”

The twelve ponies each shared information ranging from minor threats to Equestria, to the actions of greedy nobles, to the plight of the common ponies. They also allowed themselves to make suggestions on how to deal with the problems they had uncovered. I assigned each pony to a task and said that I would take care of the rest. I paid them all with a big bag of bits and reminded them of one final thing.

“Next month is the Summer Sun Celebration. The 1000th anniversary of it, in fact. Stay on your guard and report anything suspicious. We can’t afford to take risks regarding her return.”

They all bowed and left as quietly as they had come, hooded cloaks hiding their faces.

When the last one had left, Anon asked. “What was that?”

I sighed and rubbed my face with my hooves. “The Midnight Counsel. A group of loyal ponies that report directly to me about matters within my territory and surrounding territories. Bat ponies, sometimes called thestrals, as a race, swore loyalty to the Princess of the Night, Luna, and their entire race largely went into self-exile when Luna was banished, fearing punishment for their oaths. However, a few stayed to continue the work of protecting the night alongside the rest of us who couldn’t flee into hiding. My family dates back to before the founding of the Old Kingdom… before the current Modern Equestria and has long served as Night Guards and Lunar Knights or higher. I am the last of my family… but even now… I sit in Princess Luna’s Midnight Throne as her voice… as my family has done since her banishment nearly 1,000 years ago. It wasn’t easy moving the throne from the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and I’m not entirely sure if Princess Celestia knows that I have it. As you may have guessed from hearing what they said, their information is what allowed me to save you. And I’m grateful.”

Anon nodded slowly. “I’m grateful as well. I wish… that I had picked up on that more keenly during the meeting and thanked them. I do have one question… You have all this long family history of duty and service and most of it is violent. Why don’t you simply enjoy your retirement? I mean… don’t you deserve some rest?”

I sat there for a long time before answering. “Death Lords never truly retire as we must always be ready to rise again and serve but two reasons stand out as to why I’ve remained more active than a normal retired pony might. First and foremost, I have no heir to pass the responsibly down to, so I’ll continue to serve until I die. And second… I’ve wielded bloodshed for most of my life in the service of my realm and I see no reason to stop now. I kill… so other ponies don’t have to. Such is the burden I bear.”

He got up off the throne and left the throne room, a little moody and very lonely. Anon swallowed a lump in her throat.

I guess he isn’t all innocent after all.

She stalked off after him and was intent on cuddling him regardless of if he claimed to want it or not. She didn’t think that he deserved to be alone. Especially now.

* * *

Anon

The next morning, Midnight teleported me to work. He turned to walk away, presumably to start working on the issues that the council brought to him when I kissed him on the tip of his horn and walked inside. I glanced back briefly to see him staring at me with his jaw hanging open before he shook his head and walked away slowly, his tail flicking briskly.

Aloe was giggling at me when the door shut. “Very bold of you, Anon.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Bold? In what way?”

Aloe blushed and pulled me aside. “I know that you’re new here, so I won’t tease you about it too much, but you do need to know. A unicorn’s horn is very sensitive. Rubbing it with hooves, or hands in your case… or using your mouth on it as most ponies do… is actually a normal part of sexual gratification for a unicorn. You might as well have been sucking his stallionhood. In public. Thank goodness it was a simple kiss…”

My cheeks burned and I looked around myself frantically. Aloe continued to giggle at me.

“Don’t worry too much, I don’t think any other pony saw it… just don’t rub a unicorn’s horn during a mane cut. We aren’t trying to provide a full release service here.”

I bit my lip, hardly daring to speak. “Um. What happens when a horn is rubbed enough? I mean… have you ever dated a unicorn?”

Aloe nodded and smiled. “It releases magic in a way similar to an orgasm from the main shaft. A magic orgasm if you would like to think of it as such. It’s unique to unicorns and works the same way for both mares and stallions. On the bright side, the magic released can’t get anypony pregnant… to the best of any ponies’ knowledge. If you had to call it anything, it’s foreplay. I think your naivety is cute, but not all ponies may see it that way.”

Anon nodded and got to work. She checked the client list and was surprised to see that Applejack was the first pony on her list that morning.

Isn’t that the same pony that Midnight tricked into thinking that she married him yesterday?

Applejack smiled at Anon when she walked into the room. “Howdy. Ah’ve been told that yer new in town but that ya do good work. Ah just need a small trim; it shouldn’t take long.”

I nodded and got to work. My mind was caught up in what I had done this morning and I forgot that part of a mane dressers job was to make the client feel at ease by chatting with them. After a short while of cutting and styling the mare’s mane in silence, Apple Jack cleared her throat.

“Ah. Are ya okay? Ya seem a little down. Can ah help?”

Hmm. I wonder if I can continue Midnight’s joke.

I smiled. “It’s sweet of you to offer but I’m not sure anypony can help me. I lost my coltfriend to another mare yesterday and I’m still very upset. Normally, I might have taken the day off, but I just started working here and I don’t have the bits to find my own place. I’m just so confused.”

Applejack looked understandably upset. “What happened? Do ya want ta talk about it?”

I shrugged and continued to style her mane. “Well, he ended up marrying some other mare without any warning at all after buying their family a plow. A plow… of all things! All of my hopes and dreams… gone! I hope her plot was worth it because I’m not sure if I should strangle him or her. Or both… Of all the little whorses…”

A bead of sweat rolled down Applejack’s face. She looked around herself nervously.

“Ah… that’s a tragedy… ta be sure. Well… that’s enough of a trim. Ah really need ta get going…”

Anon placed a hand on Apple Jack’s barrel. “Nonsense. I’m barely half-way done. We will just continue to chat…”

Applejack sat there and listened to all the ways I was going to hunt down and cook that whorse alive. How dare she steal her stallion. I almost slowed down to drag it out, but I knew there were other clients waiting. Finally, I turned her in the chair to have her look at herself in the mirror. My voice was sickly sweet, as if false or forced.

“Oh. Pretty as picture. Mane styled good enough for a wedding, wouldn’t you say Applejack?”

Applejack cracked under my gaze and burst out. “Ah’m sorry! Ah was told that it was all a joke! Ah don’t know if Ah married your stallion! Please don’t eat me!”

I laughed. I laughed until I cried. Applejack looked bewildered, as if she expected me to attack her at any moment. I finally calmed down and took in a deep breath, smiling widely.

“Of course it was a joke… but I am Midnight’s marefriend and you have to believe that I’m just as good as pulling pranks as he is. I hope we can be friends, Applejack.”

I shook her hoof, and she gave me a genuine smile as she also wiped her brow with her other foreleg.

“Ah’ll admit… that was a good one. Ah wasn’t expecting a follow-up to his joke. Ah think that ya’ll fit right into our little town. If ya like pranks, ya should talk to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. They might even be able ta help ya prank Midnight.”

My eyes danced. “I think that I’m a long way away from being able to pull that off, but it sounds like fun. Thank you and please come again.”

Applejack left, and the next client came in.

“So, how would you like your mane styled today?”

* * *